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The historical and cultural trajectory of agricultural frontiers and the subjectivities of regional development in the Amazon

This is the first of a series of five workshops that will take place in the UK and in South America to examine and discuss the socio-cultural trajectories of change in the Amazon, since the 1970s.

The work is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and will involve academics and non-academics and will help to stablish the new ‘agro-cultures network’ (https://‎www.agrocultures.org), which will contribute as a gateway to novel explanations of historical, cultural, linguistic and religious dimensions of agricultural frontiers, which are spaces of socio-ecological transformation and where old traditions combine and clash with modernisation trends.

The members of the network understand that culture is not as a homogeneous entity or a container comprehending either meanings or people (depending on one’s theoretical preference), but rather as an internally coherent collection of communicatory processes and resources that enable, constitute, and organise the sociality and socialisation of different groups of stakeholders. By conceiving culture from its margins, from liminal socialities, from hybridities and in-betweens (or, as it were, through frontier-thinking), the network will contribute to the reflexive project of enlightening ourselves about—and thus relativize—its basic, often tacit, assumptions.

Likewise, agricultural frontiers are socio-ecological and dynamic territories. There is an evident politico-ecological significance of agri-food, which has come into sharp focus in recent years as major uncertainties exist around the sustainability of production and distribution systems, as well as a focus on issues of justice and equity of conventional agricultural systems. All this constitutes a fertile field of investigation, as it integrates different approaches for the study of economic development and environmental change, combining historico-geographical accounts with political and socio-cultural factors. Research done in the Amazon demonstrates that regional development and agriculture intensification trends are translated into values and practices at the local level, which affect political mobilisation and the ability of farmers to adopt technologies and respond to pressures.

In addition, the network is inspired by the fast growing literature, based on trans-disciplinary theoretical and empirical work, on food sovereignty and environmental justice. In particular, the recognition of food sovereignty (i.e. the right of peoples to healthy and culturally appropriate food) as a socio-spatial relation, whose conceptualisation includes the rights of nations, peoples, regions and states to craft agrarian policy according to their culture and multiple values.

This first workshop in Cardiff will include talks, roundtables and opportunities for poster presentations. Options for joint publications will also be discussed.

Confirmed speakers and debaters already include:

Prof. João Pacheco de Oliveira (Museu Nacional/UFRJ, Rio de Janeiro)

Prof. Paul Little (University of Brasília)

Dr Laura Rival (Oxford University)

Dr Bernardo M. Fernandes (State University of São Paulo)

Dr Fábio de Castro (CEDLA, University of Amsterdam)

Dr Rafael Ioris (University of Denver)

Dr Aaron Schneider (Latin America Center, University of Denver)

Special participation: ‘People's Palace Projects’, c/o School of English and Drama, Queen Mary University of London